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Sawmill
| upkeep_cost = | sells_for = | pre = None | effects = Increases the total of a town's citizens by 25%. | building_unlock = | unit_unlock = }} A Sawmill is a type of Town Building. It can be constructed by any race except the Lizardmen. A town must also have at least one Forest or Nature Node tile in its vicinity in order to construct a Sawmill. The building has no other prerequisites. Its base construction cost is . The Sawmill increases the total output of all the town's citizens - a significant bonus that speeds up all construction in this town. It also unlocks the Foresters' Guild, which would improve the town even further. The Sawmill and Barracks together enable the creation of Bowmen. With the Sawmill and Shipwrights' Guild, a sea-side town can construct a Ship Yard, which builds Galleys for transportation and naval warfare. The Sawmill requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn for its maintenance. If you are pressed for Gold, a Sawmill can be sold back for . Description A Sawmill is a workshop designed for transforming tree logs into wooden planks (which are used for construction), wooden tools and bows. The Sawmill uses water to power its machinery via a waterwheel. A circular saw, driven by the watermill, slices the logs, after which they are processed into ready-to-use wooden products. The Sawmill appears as a tall wooden house, with its large waterwheel clearly visible at the front of the building. Strangely, this water-wheel will spin just fine even if the town has no visible access to any running water. It is assumed to be powered by a nearby stream that's just too small to be displayed on-screen. Races and Construction All Races in the game except the Lizardmen have access to the Sawmill. Woodworking is an essential and very basic skill in all construction, and as such is important for everyone. The Sawmill can only be constructed in a town that has has at least one Forest tile within its catchment area. If no such tiles exist, the Sawmill does not appear on the list of possible construction options. Note that spells like Change Terrain can be used to add a Forest where none were previously, enabling construction of a Sawmill in any nearby town. However, once the Sawmill is constructed or is in the process of being built, the Forest tile can be changed again with no adverse effect. A town requires no other Town Buildings in order to create a Sawmill - it is available for construction as soon as a town becomes capable of producing anything. Construction of a Sawmill costs . Despite this cost, the building is usually created early-on, as it improves the construction speed of all other buildings and units, allowing a town to develop more rapidly. The Sawmill requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn. Failure to pay these costs does not cause the Sawmill to be abandoned - Town Buildings only drain your treasury, so that you have less with which to pay for other things. Continuous Effects While a Sawmill exists in a town, it will boost the output of this town. Essentially it increases the productivity of each worker by 25% - though the percentage applies to the total production of all citizens put together, rather than individually. In other words, the game looks at the total of all citizens in the town, and then the Sawmill produces exactly 25% of this - rounded down. The extra is listed separately in the Production Breakdown chart, so the Sawmill's effect is clearly visible there. For example, if the town's citizens yield a total of , the Sawmill will add a bonus . If they yield a total of , the Sawmill will add (50 * 25%, rounded down). The bonus is automatically adjusted whenever the citizens' output is changed for whatever reason. Therefore, if a town grows or diminishes in size, or its citizens are redistributed, the benefits of the Sawmill will rise and fall respectively. This bonus is calculated based only on the total generated by the citizens - ignoring any other bonuses or other sources of a town may get. For example, the presence or absence of a Miners' Guild -- which also increases -- does not affect the bonus from the Sawmill in any way. Although the building's in-game tooltip indicates that the Sawmill's bonus is based on the number of Forests around the town, this is not the case at all. The Sawmill only takes citizens into account as explained above. One nearby Forest is sufficient to get the full 25% bonus, and additional Forests do not improve this. Unlocked Town Buildings Upon its construction, the Sawmill immediately unlocks the Foresters' Guild. The guild will improve town even further, and will also add a bonus amount of - allowing more citizens to be turned into Workers if necessary. As a result, further improvement of this town becomes even quicker and easier. This combination is essential for any town that you're hoping to develop rapidly. The Sawmill is also one of the two components required for constructing a Ship Yard in sea-side towns, for races that have access to this building. The Sawmill provides high-quality planks of wood, whereas the Shipwrights' Guild - the other required component - provides skilled ship-building craftsmen and a place for ships to dock. The Ship Yard becomes available once both structures are present. Once it is built, the Ship Yard can produce a mainstay transport and combat vessel called the Galley, which is important for sea-faring empires and maps with plenty of continents. A few races can then go beyond Ship Yards to construct Maritime Guilds and/or Merchants' Guilds. Unlocked Normal Units The Sawmill itself unlocks no new units for production, since it only produces wooden weapons for soldiers to use. In order to actually unlock new units a Barracks must be built as well - providing a place for new trainees to live during their training period. With the Barracks When a town contains both a Sawmill and a Barracks, it can begin to produce basic Ranged Attack units, at least for those races that have access to them. This includes the Bowmen and Longbowmen. Bowmen are available to the Barbarians, Gnolls, Halflings, High Men, Nomads, Orcs, Beastmen and Draconians. Within their armies, Bowmen provide an early-game Ranged Attack capability, which is initially quite poor and useful only against other weak Normal Units. Bowmen however improve well with Experience, and can often cause serious damage to Normal Units once sufficient Experience has been acquired. Until then they are both weak and vulnerable, and will mainly tag along with other armies to gain Experience in combat. Longbowmen are available only to the High Elf race. They are significantly stronger than Bowmen, and are capable of seriously injuring most enemy Normal Units at a great range. Their accuracy means that they improve very well with Experience, and will generally become very threatening at high levels. This is the main reason why a Sawmill is essential in all High Elf towns - and often constructed early. Strategy Unless a town is completely missing any Forest tiles, construction of a Sawmill will be a great boon for any further development, thanks to the bonus it bestows. This depends greatly on the town's population however, so it may sometimes be a good idea to wait until the town grows a little before starting work on a Sawmill there. Once the Sawmill is completed, all further construction goes faster - including both Town Buildings and new Normal Units. Unit-production centers will definitely need this if they wish to churn out units at any respectable rate - especially if a Foresters' Guild can later be built to further augment the bonus. The Sawmill is extremely important for High Elves, who require it in order to build their terrific Longbowmen units. Early production of these units can mean dominance over the surrounding area. Races with access to Bowmen will also want to acquire a Sawmill early on, but this can sometimes wait until a Smithy and Barracks have been built. Sea-faring races and empires will also require a Sawmill in their naval production centers - as they lead to the Ship Yard and thus to advanced ship construction. All told, the Sawmills are beneficial to virtually any town, and the earlier you build them, the faster you can get to other structures as well - so do not delay too long. Category:Town Buildings